ISLAMABAD: Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro underwent a medical procedure Saturday to treat recurrent hiccups he has been dealing with for months, according to his medical team. The 70-year-old ex-president, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for an attempted coup, had been released from prison Wednesday to undergo surgery for a groin hernia at the DF Star Hospital in Brasilia. That surgery was performed Thursday without incident, and Bolsonaro remained hospitalized for several days for evaluation. During that time, Bolsonaro&#39;s medical team determined it was necessary to perform an anesthetic block of the phrenic nerve&mdash;which controls the diaphragm&mdash;to treat his recurring hiccups. Bolsonaro&#39;s doctor, Claudio Birolini, told reporters on Thursday that the procedure involved locating the nerve using an ultrasound machine and then injecting it with a local analgesic. The procedure on Saturday &quot;went well,&quot; according to another of the doctors, Mateus Saldanha. Birolini said the process took about an hour, adding that &quot;it&#39;s not surgery...it does not involve any incisions.&quot; The right side of the nerve was treated Saturday, and a procedure to treat the left side of the nerve is set for Monday. &#39;Months of struggle&#39; &quot;My love just went to the surgical center to have his phrenic nerve blocked,&quot; former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro wrote in an Instagram post Saturday. &quot;It&#39;s been nine months of struggle and anguish with daily hiccups,&quot; she added. The far-right former president, who was in power from 2019 to 2022, has for years been dealing with the aftermath of an abdominal stab wound he suffered during a 2018 campaign rally, requiring several major surgeries. In September, Brazil&#39;s Supreme Court found Bolsonaro guilty of conspiring to stay in power after losing the 2022 election to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and handed him a 27-year prison sentence. The coup failed due to a lack of support from top military brass. The far-right ex-president has claimed his innocence, claiming he was being persecuted by the Supreme Court. Bolsonaro was under house arrest from August until his imprisonment on November 22. Once discharged from the hospital, Bolsonaro will return to serving his sentence at a federal police jail in the capital. Brazil&#39;s Supreme Court on Saturday also ordered house arrest for 10 officials from Bolsonaro&#39;s administration who were involved in planning the coup plot, sought legal justification for it, or spread disinformation about it on social media. The 10 officials had been convicted but were out of prison due to pending appeals. One of the officials, Silvinei Vasques, was detained in Paraguay on Friday after he allegedly tried to board a flight with false papers.

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The former president, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for an attempted coup, had been released from prison Wednesday to undergo surgery for a groin hernia.

Brazil's ex-president Bolsonaro treated for hiccups

BRASILIA: Brazil&#39;s former president Jair Bolsonaro was taken from house arrest into police custody on Saturday after the Supreme Court accused him of trying to break his ankle bracelet and plot an escape.&nbsp;The far-right firebrand was sentenced to 27 years in prison over a scheme to stop leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 elections -- a ruling he is still appealing.&nbsp;Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes said Bolsonaro&#39;s arrest was a preventive measure as he is a &quot;high flight risk,&quot; and not the execution of his sentence.&nbsp;Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil from 2019 to 2022, was placed under house arrest in August and has been confined to an upscale condominium in the capital Brasilia.&nbsp;In his ruling, Moraes said that a planned vigil outside the condominium called by the former leader&#39;s son Flavio Bolsonaro on Saturday could cause turmoil that would &quot;create an environment conducive to his escape.&quot;&nbsp;Flavio urged supporters to &quot;fight for your country&quot; in a video calling for the vigil.&nbsp;The judge said there had been an &quot;attempt to break&quot; Bolsonaro&#39;s ankle bracelet early Saturday as part of a plan to &quot;ensure the success of his escape, facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son.&nbsp;Moraes also highlighted the proximity of Bolsonaro&#39;s home to the US embassy, adding the far-right leader had previously planned to flee to the Argentine embassy to request political asylum.&nbsp;Bolsonaro is an ally of US President Donald Trump, who said his trial was a &quot;witch hunt&quot; and imposed punitive tariffs and sanctions against Brazil in retaliation.&nbsp;In a statement, Bolsonaro&#39;s defense team said his detention caused &quot;deep perplexity&quot; as it was based on a &quot;prayer vigil.&quot;&nbsp;They said they would appeal the detention which &quot;could put his life at risk&quot; due to his alleged frail health.&nbsp;&nbsp;Champagne and angerBolsonaro has been taken to a federal police complex in Brasilia where prisoners undergo medical examinations before being sent to jail, according to a source close to the case.&nbsp;Another source sent a video to AFP showing the small room where Bolsonaro will be held for now, with a television, air conditioning and a mini-fridge.&nbsp;A group of women gathered outside the location and uncorked a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate Bolsonaro&#39;s imprisonment.&nbsp;Ana Denise Sousa, 47, a high school philosophy teacher, told AFP outside the prison she was overjoyed.&nbsp;&quot;The biggest scoundrel, the worst guy...who screwed everyone over, who (attempted) a coup, who never felt pity for anyone -- and now he&#39;s going to pay.&quot;&nbsp;Meanwhile supporters arrived draped in Brazil&#39;s green and yellow flag.&nbsp;Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas said Bolsonaro&#39;s detention &quot;violates the principle of human dignity&quot; and vowed to fight to rectify the &quot;injustice&quot;.&nbsp;Bolsonaro&#39;s legal woes have left Brazil&#39;s large conservative electorate without a champion heading into 2026 presidential elections, in which Lula, 80, has said he will seek a fourth term.&nbsp;Bolsonaro&#39;s fervent evangelical wife Michelle wrote on Instagram that she trusted &quot;the Lord will provide the way out.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp;Time running out&nbsp;Bolsonaro, a former army captain, is adored by many for his conservative values and gloves-off style.&nbsp;However he drew criticism for vitriolic comments about gays and women and for praising Brazil&#39;s dictatorship years.&nbsp;During his presidency he was praised for his handling of the economy, but slammed for overseeing record Amazon deforestation and dismissing Covid-19 as a &quot;little flu&quot;.&nbsp;He was convicted in September of leading a criminal organization that conspired to ensure his &quot;authoritarian hold on power.&quot;&nbsp;The plot involved a plan to assassinate Lula, his vice president Geraldo Alckmin, and Moraes.&nbsp;An appeal of his sentence was rejected last week.&nbsp;On Friday, Bolsonaro&#39;s lawyers said they would file further appeals before a Monday deadline.&nbsp;However, they requested he be allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest due to ill health. Moraes rejected this petition Saturday due to the change in events.&nbsp;Bolsonaro, 70, suffers ongoing consequences of a stab wound to the abdomen received during a knife attack on the campaign trail in 2018 and has required several follow up surgeries.

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's former president, was moved from house arrest to police custody after allegedly attempting to break his ankle bracelet and escape. He faces a 27-year sentence over a plot to stop Lula's presidency.

Articles tagged with "Jair Bolsonaro"

Brazil's ex-president Bolsonaro treated for hiccups

Brazil's Bolsonaro jailed over alleged bid to break ankle bracelet and flee

Brazil's ex-president Bolsonaro treated for hiccups